A YEAR'S GARDENING 



purpose, needs to be damped, and enough should be put in each 

 bowl for the bulbs to stand in without touching — the overcrowding 

 of bulbs is a fatal mistake. The bulbs placed firmly, with the tips 

 just showing, more fibre should be packed round them so that the 

 bowls are nearly fuU. Some small lumps of charcoal form the best 

 drainage at the bottom of the bowls, and a few pieces amongst the 

 fibre wiU keep it sweet. 



After settling, the first thing to do is to give a thorough watering. 

 . Afterwards water must be given occasionally and with 



Watering discretion; both over dryness and soddeimess must 

 be avoided. 



A cold frame may be used to keep the bowls in while the roots 

 are forming, but a dry cellar, or even a cupboard that 

 fatorage jg sufficiently airy, will answer the pmrpose equally 



well. 



The bowls should be kept in the dark until some sturdy shoots 



are formed, and then the transition to light, and more 



When to Move especially to warmth, should be a gradual one, or the 



ow s plants mil become weedy and the flowers poor or even 



non-existent. But once growth is well forward light and air are very 



necessary. 



During the remaining growth water should be given freely until 

 the flowers are fully out — ^when very little water is desirable. Where 

 the flower stalks are tall a certain amount of support must be given 

 to them, but it should be very carefuUy managed or all the natural 

 beauty of the plant will be lost. 



As they wither the flowers should be cut off, but not the leaves; 

 they should be left to turn brown after the bulbs 

 Treatme^of ^^^® been replanted in the garden in a not too pro- 

 Bulbs ° minent spot where they will recover themselves suffi- 

 ciently to be some use next year. For bulbs wiU not 

 flower a second time in the restricted nourishment they find in a 

 bowl. 



lao 



